Skydiver falls 11,500 ft and lives!!!

[Miss Mary]

This girl is lucky to be alive!!! This would really shake me up, I'd be so grateful to be alive I'd wonder if I was saved for another purpose?!!! Not that ~I~ would be skydiving but it's almost as if it's a miracle she lived!

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http://www.cnn.com/2004/WORLD/africa/08 ... index.html

Skydiver survives 11,500ft plunge

Monday, August 23, 2004 Posted: 5:28 AM EDT (0928 GMT)

JOHANNESBURG, South Africa (Reuters) -- A South African skydiver survived a 3,500 meter (11,500 ft) plunge after her parachute failed to open and lines broke on her reserve chute, a local skydiving club said Monday.

Christy McKenzie was hurtling towards the ground at more than 200 kms (120 miles) per hour on Sunday when her parachute failed to deploy, Johan Mulder, the chief instructor at the Johannesburg Skydiving Club, told Reuters.

"When it didn't open she tried to deploy her reserve parachute and it had a fairly hard opening. A couple of the lines broke and so it was not fully open," he said.

This meant that her descent was still dangerously fast.

Powerlines broke her fall and may have saved her life. She survived with a hairline fracture to her pelvis.

"It's extremely, extremely rare ... it's unheard of that there are malfunctions in reserve parachutes," Mulder said, adding that the equipment was being sent to the manufacturer to determine why it did not work properly.

The Johannesburg Star newspaper quoted McKenzie, an experienced skydiver, as saying from her hospital bed: "I'll jump again."

The incident occurred at Carletonville, about 70 km (40 miles) west of Johannesburg.

[Josephine96]

Only a hairline fracture.. she was a lucky duck then.. Glad she's ok..

[NWIASpotter]

Wow, she is lucky. I wonder if she will actually go skydiving again like she said. I'm pretty sure it would take me awhile to get up the nerve to do that.

[Josephine96]

I've actually always wanted to jump out of a plane.. But that's my main fear right there.. the chute not opening up..

[NWIASpotter]

Yea, I always wanted to go skydivin too. But I have just never really had the opportunity or the time to do that.